Why isn't there a completely American-made AK-style rifle?

As far as I know there is no American gun company that makes a semi-auto AK clone. But WHY? How hard could it be to make an AK clone? It's one of the simplest rifle designs out there. If an American company made an extremely high quality AK rifle (with a milled receiver, really nice wood stock sets, etc) they would sell great I bet. Why not?

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Glock Holiday

October 20, 2008, 11:35 PM

It would have to sell for more money than people are willing to pay.
As it is now an imported parts kit coupled up with a US made receiver and perhaps a new US barrel,required sec 922R parts and people to put it all together is the cheapest way for a company like century to go.

sammy

October 20, 2008, 11:41 PM

I think it is because parts kits are cheaper than coming up with the tooling it would take to make an AK. Besides, an AK needs to have a commie blok flavor to it. It is like having Mexican food with no salsa.

Lurp

October 21, 2008, 12:12 AM

I think you just described the Arsenal Classic AK ;) Milled receiver with beautiful wood stock and forgrip and I beleive it's all made in America (Could be wrong). Too bad they discontinued them :banghead:, but atleast my father got his hands on one for me to play with occassionally :D. If you keep an eye out you can find them, but they're quite costly.

nalioth

October 21, 2008, 12:23 AM

and I beleive it's all made in America (Could be wrong). No AK is "made in America". However, the 922r law legally allows any 'evil assault rifle looking klone' that conforms to 922r to be called "Made in USA" on the strength of the few US parts in it.

Arsenals are imported as complete single stack jobs, the mag wells are hogged out, 922r parts added and then they're thrown out into the Arsenal catalog.

BullpupBen

October 21, 2008, 12:36 AM

Because then it would cost $800 and wouldn't be able to compete.

Evil Monkey

October 21, 2008, 12:37 AM

Yes for the price they would cost to be 100% domestically made, there are FAR better rifles.

nwilliams

October 21, 2008, 12:58 AM

There are plenty US made AK's clones out there....Of course many of them use some foreign parts, but they can still be considered American made I think.

http://www.ak-47.us/AK47_Manufacturers.php

MD_Willington

October 21, 2008, 02:37 AM

Don't forget the latest Arsenals... they are Izhmash origin !

Perdy'd up Saiga.. LOL

HorseSoldier

October 21, 2008, 03:25 AM

+1 on it being less economical than using parts kits. If the ATF ever bans parts kits and whole rifles from overseas, I would not be surprised to see someone start making them entirely here in the US, but they won't be cheap.

22-rimfire

October 21, 2008, 07:57 AM

They will only be cheaper here if importation is banned.

MD_Willington

October 21, 2008, 09:39 AM

Someone with the backing would do all right if they could import the machinery for making the machines parts, the flats and furniture are already available in quantity here in the US.

jerkface11

October 21, 2008, 10:12 AM

Labor costs a LOT more here than it does in Yugoslavia or Belarus. You could never compete. Maybe you could do the machine work in mexico though.

Shear_stress

October 21, 2008, 10:16 AM

You are right, jerkface. You cannot compare the cost of producing a gun in a state-owned factory by worker making rock bottom wages to a gun made in the U.S. The price of AKs has also been kept artificially low because so many of them have been built from surplus parts that were made in those state-owned factories in the first place. So, not only were these AKs made in the cheapest places possible, but they have already been paid for at least once. I think people would be surprised at just how much a 100% U.S.-made AK would cost.

MD_Willington

October 21, 2008, 03:15 PM

You know, it seems like it would be easy enough to EDM a bunch of those parts, once you have a good file to go with, then the EDM machine can do most of the machining labor for you...

Hmmm, we just got a brand spanking new EDM machine in the factory.. muwahahaha

chris in va

October 21, 2008, 11:00 PM

Wow. I just browsed through Arsenal's description of their Saiga and...:barf:

Seriously. Most of the stuff they tout as being an 'upgrade' is completely useless. Take the 1000 meter sight blade for instance. This isn't a 1k gun, and the 300m blade is more than adequate for the cartridge's range.

Cleaning rod. So what.

Safety lever notch. Wasn't aware this is a problem until I read the article. Mine works just fine, thank you.

Fire control group. Come on, the problem is with the linkage, not the hammer/disconnector.

All the 'correct' markings'?? What??

"Hole on bottom of receiver for attaching the handguard". Extremely difficult to replicate? Coulda sworn mine came with it.

So all this stuff...for $650? :rolleyes:

nalioth

October 21, 2008, 11:09 PM

Chris In Va, they're aiming for the "purists" who want the klosest kalashnikov klone they can get, so long as they're fine with not having any 'go fast parts'. . .

MAKster

October 23, 2008, 11:48 AM

I'm not sure why a totally U.S. made gun would cost much more than a parts kit. The kit guns usually have a U.S. made receiver, barrel, fire control group, and maybe synthetic stock. Those seem to be the most costly parts so how much more would it cost to add a U.S. bolt, piston, etc.

RP88

October 23, 2008, 07:25 PM

I'm not sure why a totally U.S. made gun would cost much more than a parts kit. The kit guns usually have a U.S. made receiver, barrel, fire control group, and maybe synthetic stock. Those seem to be the most costly parts so how much more would it cost to add a U.S. bolt, piston, etc.

because the AK is not an AR. the parts are different, and thus some are made differently. that means re-tooling and machine costs would make it more expensive. Another reason is because things don't cost much to make in some/all of the places where AKs are made. You can't get away with paying an American worker 20 bucks a day here.

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